My 3 month old pup is underweight and rather food fussy (will only eat half of required pellets), we've tried a more palatble dry food but have now switched to raw. Live in SA and have various Kudu/Springbok/Gemsbok etc livers, fillets and mince. Any ideas on how to incorporate into diet with veg? Have now cooked mixed white and brown rice, carrots, sweet potato, spinach and mixed for the week. How big must raw portions be, and with how much meat? Fussy eater has so far gobbled up pellets mixed with a little scrambled egg (no salt).
If you put 5 raw feeders in a room, you will get 5 different ways to feed raw!
Personally, I do feed pulverized (allows better digestion) vegetables/fruit (blended in a blender with a little water). This would mimic the fiber eaten (fur) from a fresh kill in the wild and it provides vitamins and natural anti-oxidants.
Rule of thumb is "about" 1/2 cup of veg mix to 1 pound (2 cups) of meat mixed with organs.
Some vegetables can be fed raw and pulvarized and some need cooking or partial cooking.
I feed a blend of vegetables/fruits as well. While they might not "need" them, I do feel they benefit from the nutrients. Also, animal nutritionists such as Dr. Karen Becker and Monica Segel advise to include them. Somethings I do fresh/frozen and sometimes I add in powder from various manufacturers.
I do not add in rice or potatoes. I want the high value vegetables like bell peppers, spinach, broccoli, squashes, pumpkins. And high value fruit like raspberries and blueberries. Look up "super food" and go off that list for vegetables native to your area.
As far as meats, I feed a lot of venison. Dogs get their energy from fats (look up Husky studies on nutrition), so you don't want very lean. I try to keep an 80/20 or 75/25 ratio. If you have rib meat from the game animals, there is typically a lot of fat in there that you can mix in and that meat should be high in Omega 3 because the animals are eating grasses instead of corn/wheats.
Thank you so much! This forum has already been so helpful, going from Schnauzers to feeding/training a GSD is not as smooth as i'd hoped, despite the common origin!
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